TongTong
Sign in

节衣缩食 (jié yī suō shí) — to save on food and clothing; to live frugally (idiom)

Definition

A chéngyǔ describing living extremely frugally — cutting back on both food and clothing to save money. Stronger and more literary than the plain adjective 节约.

phrase
to save on food and clothingto live frugally (idiom)

Examples

  • ，节衣缩食。
    Wèi le gěi fù mǔ mǎi fáng zi, tā jié yī suō shí le hǎo jǐ nián.
    To buy a house for his parents, he lived frugally for several years.
  • ，节衣缩食。
    Jīng jì bù hǎo de shí hou, dà jiā zhǐ hǎo jié yī suō shí guò rì zi.
    When the economy is bad, people have no choice but to live frugally.
  • 节衣缩食，。
    Yé ye yí bèi zi dōu jié yī suō shí, fēi cháng jié yuē.
    Grandpa lived frugally all his life; he was very thrifty.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 縮; 缩 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìstring, thread
Sound part声符shēngfú
宿
宿sù縮suō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 縮 pairs 糸 (string, thread) with 宿, which gives the sound; the simplified 缩 is a shorthand.

Open 缩 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.